AKO BICOL Partylist Rep. Rodel Batocabe urged President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to form a Special Task Force for the collateral victims of the Administration’s war against illegal drugs.

Two weeks before the resumption of session in the House of Representatives, Cong. Batocabe filed House Resolution 0655 to call upon the creation of a body composed of prosecutors or commissioned lawyers to launch investigations on the alleged collateral victims of the war against drugs.

“Although we applaud the current efforts of the administration to combat the menacing problem of illegal drugs that is destroying our country, we should also look out for the innocent victims who were dragged into this conflict”, Batocabe said.

The country’s campaign against illegal drugs has taken the lives of more than 2,000 alleged drug dependents and dealers during legitimate police operations, while there are 4,000 other unsolved killings reported at the expense of vigilantes or drug syndicate members.

In recent news, President Duterte admitted that there are innocent victims from the war against drugs and the government is liable for the injury or death of those who were victims of this crusade.

“The creation of the Special Task Force will ensure that our campaign against illegal drugs will earn the approval of our citizens”, Batocabe added, “the government is tackling this problem seriously and we are taking all the necessary policy steps to alleviate the concerns of the citizens about the government’s war against drugs”, he further mentioned.

The functions of the Special Task force include the investigation on the appropriateness of police drug bust operations, determination of the identity of the collateral victims, recommend fair and befitting compensation for the family of victims, and recommend the prosecution of the perpetrators of the collateral victims, if needed.

“We should take action to alleviate the suffering of the families of innocent victims who got caught in the middle of our war against drugs and it will be through their compensation we hope to reduce their pain of loss”, Batocabe said.